Click here for a letter from the Bristol twp Trustees concerning the Bristol Township Comprehensive plan and a copy of that plan. (If, when you get to the page from the link above, if you do not see a picture of the square with the words "Bristol Township Comprehensive Plan" above it, refresh the page. Most browsers will have a circular arrow in the menu bar that will refresh the page for you.)

Bristol Trustees and Bristol Fire Department have combined to help our citizens in a "Home, but not alone" program for calling or / and checking in with our shut in's and elderly. Click here on "Home, but not alone" for more information.

The Trumbull county Health District has issued information / warnings about the mosquito season and illnesses such as West Nile Virus, Chikungunya Virus and Zika Virus associated with mosquitos. More information is posted at our Calendar / Announcement page.

WELCOME TO BRISTOL TOWNSHIP

Bristolville Has Rich Heritage

Links to the Past

Bristol Township was originally surveyed by Alfred Wolcott of Bristol, Connecticut in the early 1800's. He is credited with naming the township, which is listed as Township Six in the Fourth Range of the Western Reserve.
Abraham Baughman was the first white settler in 1804, and with the coming of the William Sager family 1805, permanent settlement of the township began. Other early families from Shenandoah County, Virginia included pioneers with the names of Barbe, Fansler, Hammon, Kagy and Norton. Many of their descendants still populate the area.

Town Square Development

The village settlement at the center of the township is dominated by a town square reminiscent of New England village greens. The "Center" as it is often referred to, is named Bristolville. Several memorials dedicated to township citizens are located in the town park. The Civil War Monument is the centerpiece of the park: it was the first Civil War memorial in the state of Ohio, having been erected in 1863.
Near the site of the early grist mill operations north of the center, a small trading center named North Bristol emerged. When the railroad passed through the township in the 1870's, two railroad stations were established. The North Bristol station was later named Oakfield and the station east of the center became Spokane.

Congregational Church Oldest Meeting House

The oldest meeting house in the township was the Congregational Church. Built in 1845, the church still stands on the northeast corner of the Town Park. Pioneer families organized this church in 1817. Since the demise of the congregation, the building has served various functions, including the housing of special school events, meeting rooms for the Women's Relief Corps and most recently as a township storage area.
Other buildings on the town square include the historic century-old Town Hall and the Methodist Church, which was rebuilt after the original church was destroyed by fire in 1951. The Town Hall has been the scene of many important events, including Bristol High School's first commencement in 1888. The G.A.R. post for the Civil War veterans and several lodges have used the hall. Bristol grange has met in the town hall for a continuous period since 1932.

Roads and Railroads Opened Up Township

As the last decade of the nineteenth century approached, Bristol Township could boast a thriving village at its center. Travel was accomplished on many roadways which crisscrossed the township and on the Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railroad. A business directory of this period listed graded schools, four churches, five post offices, a flour and feed mill, five general stores, a hotel (The Exchange House) and livery stables, three doctors, three dentists, a furniture store, an undertaker, a boot and shoemaker, a photographer, a millinery shop, a meat maker, hardware store, four blacksmiths, a cooper, barbershop, a cheese factory, apiary and more.

Many century homes are located throughout the township. The first frame house was built by Jonathon Walkley at a location about one mile south of the center. One of the surviving structures of the 1820's is the Zachariah Norton home, at the time of this writing was owned by now deceased descendant Florence MacDonald and located on Hyde Oakfield Rd.